Title: Role of Foundational Sciences in Clinical YearsSeries: The Role of Basic Science in 21st Century Medical Education

During last week’s webinar, we learned of the unique curriculum of Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University. This week’s presentation by Dr. Kim Dahlman also focused on a non-traditional approach to medical education, specifically on the curriculum at her U.S. medical school, the School of Medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Most medical schools have clear course distinctions between the basic foundational sciences and clinical sciences; first- and second-year students usually spend their time studying the former while “post-board-exam” students in the third and fourth years usually are in clinical rotations and out of the classroom. At Vanderbilt, however, as Dr. Dahlman explained, third and fourth year students are required to take classroom-based courses which are heavily grounded in the foundational sciences.

Dr. Dahlman laid out her agenda for her presentation and subsequently discussed the rationale for foundational science integration, the specifics of the Vanderbilt Medical curriculum (C2.0), the details of the Integrated Science Courses (ISCs), and then the challenges and solutions behind their curriculum.

There is growing evidence that a deep understanding of complex foundational science plays a crucial role in effective clinical decision making.